Tuesday, October 7, 2014

So we’ve all tasted (or for the less
bold, heard of) the tea in our lovely SPREES department, yes? Being a bit of a
tea person myself, I found their style of drought to be quite interesting. It
obviously has a stronger taste, but is highly aromatic and digestible. It also
carries with it a charming shade of amber. This knowledge in mind, I set out to
learn more about Russia’s tea culture.

I came across a website called www.russianlife.com, where I found an
article entitled “Tea Time in Russia”. It is from this that I derive much of my
information here.

Tea was brought to Russia in the
mid-1600s by a Chinese ambassador. From there it became a hot commodity and
import. However, due to long and hazardous trade routes, tea was quite
expensive, and was therefore a luxury. But with the introduction of a
continental railroad, Russia’s tea was made more available.

It is interesting to note that in
traditional Russian tea, three flavors are brewed strongly but separately. They
are then joined with hot water added to help thin out the mixture. They would
literally stack all the different pots atop each other! Don’t knock THAT over
kids…

Tea in Russia is very popular. It is
offered with every meal thanks to its warm and soothing qualities (think cold
beyond belief, oh ye Floridians) and is even a popular dessert. In this
fashion, it is served with jam or chocolates to be enjoyed as accompaniment. “To
this day, tea and vodka are the two primary beverages in Russian society.” (http://www.russianlife.com/blog/tea-time-in-russia/)
The only question left is, when do we start serving Vodka at the SPREES center?